Sen. Nicole Poore

This Act requires Family Court to award possession and provide for the care of companion animals when dividing marital property after considering the well-being of the companion animal. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution extends heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to members of the Delaware State Bar Association on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the establishment of the modern bar association in 1923.

This Act increases funding for preschool children with disabilities who are not counted in either "intensive" or "complex" special education units by revising the current ratio of 12.8 students per unit to 8.4 students per unit for preschool children included in the basic unit count. This is the same ratio in effect as of July 1, 2023, for K-3 basic special education. The Act also consolidates the K-3 Basic Special Education Unit with the 4-12 Basic Special Education Unit as the ratio is the same for each group as of July 1, 2023. This substitute bill is different from original HB33 in that it omits the “Preschool 2 Basic Special Education Unit.” The preschool funding change is effective July 1, 2023.

This Resolution designates July 26, 2023, as "Americans with Disabilities Act Day" in the State of Delaware.

Section 1 of this Act increases the standard deduction for personal income tax purposes of resident individuals and spouses of this State for tax years beginning after December 31, 2023. Section 3 of this Act increases the monetary filing thresholds resulting from the increases the standard deduction under Section 1. Sections 2 and 4 of this Act increase the refundable earned income tax credit to 7.5% of the corresponding federal earned income tax credit for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, and clarify that a previously enacted refundable earned income tax credit of 4.5% of the corresponding federal earned income tax credit took effect for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2021.

This resolution makes changes to Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 19 in that it adds 2 additional Task Force members, authorizes the Task Force to create subcommittees, allows for the appointment of 1 Task Force member by the Co-Chairs, and changes the dates of the Task Forces' first meeting and the submission of its report.

This Concurrent Resolution recognizes the month of June 2023 as Myasthenia Gravis Awareness Month in the State of Delaware.

This concurrent resolution establishes the Non-Acute Long-Stay Patient Task Force to study and make findings and recommendations regarding the needs and options of non-acute Long-Stay hospital patients in need of transition to a more appropriate care setting. Long-Stay is defined as patients that have been in the hospital for 15 days or more and no longer have an acute medical need warranting hospitalization. These individuals are awaiting transition because access to a more appropriate care setting is unavailable. This means there are individuals in acute medical hospital beds that no longer need to be, but various barriers such as lack of insurance coverage, delayed authorization or guardianship, barriers to admission into behavioral health facilities or long-term care, and more, are preventing them from acute medical hospital discharge. This unnecessarily increases health care costs and can have a negative impact on the patients who are missing out on getting the specialized care they need at a more appropriate care facility. This also means longer wait times for other patients in hospital emergency rooms as there is less bed availability. This concurrent resolution establishes a task force to study and make recommendations on these issues.

This concurrent resolution establishes the Enhancing Lifelong Community Supports for the Aging, Individuals with Disabilities, and Their Family Caregivers Task Force.

The state’s pre-application process for land use process, known as PLUS, was created 20 years ago and has served to increase coordination among state and local agencies. In doing so, it has fulfilled its intent of providing predictability and consistency for the development community, especially in the area of major projects. Given that success, this bill assists in expediting the process for economic development projects in the State of Delaware with some exemptions from the PLUS process. A project located in Investment Level 1 or 2 under the Strategies for State Policies and Spending that is consistent with local zoning and any local comprehensive plan that will create full-time jobs is exempt from the pre-application process unless required by the local government or requested by the applicant.